FEMINIST METHODOLOGIES AND QUMRAN IDEOLOGIES: RHETORICAL CRITICISM OF 1QS, THE COMMUNITY RULE SCROLL
Date of Award
2013
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Humanities
First Advisor
Marks, Susan
Keywords
Qumran, Dead Sea Scrolls, Feminist Methodology
Area of Concentration
Religion
Abstract
This thesis critiques the scholarly method of imposing binary categories onto historical reconstruction. It examines sectarian attitudes toward the Temple in The Community Rule of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the complex relationship between the Qumran sect and Temple that binary systems conceal. Chapter One uses a feminist methodology to critique the categorical method and highlights the ways in which rhetorical analysis helps execute a feminist critical reading. Chapter Two highlights the limits and shortcomings of scholarship that relies on binary categories to understand Dead Sea Scrolls. Chapter Three applies rhetorical analysis to The Community Rule and investigates the complexities this scroll reveals regarding sectarian attitudes toward the Temple. This thesis argues that a feminist critical reading of The Community Rule reveals a complex relationship between the Qumran sectarians and the Temple-cult that the categorical method, by forcing things into simple categories, conceals from the scholarly eye. Furthermore, the evidence discussed in this thesis underscores the value of feminist methodologies in scholarship outside the field of gender studies.
Recommended Citation
Mroz, Lacy, "FEMINIST METHODOLOGIES AND QUMRAN IDEOLOGIES: RHETORICAL CRITICISM OF 1QS, THE COMMUNITY RULE SCROLL" (2013). Theses & ETDs. 6808.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/6808
Rights
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